Artist Statement

 

"When you put together things that other people have thrown out, you’re really bringing them to life – a spiritual life that surpasses the life for which they were originally created."

- Louise Nevelson

I received an MA in Art from UW-Madison in 2010 with a concentration in wood. For several years I have worked with recycled materials, as a means of conserving resources, but especially to incorporate the histories – in patina and period – of disparate furniture styles into the narrative of the new piece. In sympathy with John Ruskin’s ideas about use of local materials, and Theodore Adorno’s “re-enchantment of the world through aesthetic experience”, my work reflects the history of place and the reanimation of discourse through wood. It incorporates multiple states in the developmental trajectory of wood, from twigs and branches, to highly refined, turned or carved pieces. As with any complex psychology, the different materials coalesce, even as they communicate the tension of disparate experiences.

I have worked with found objects and wood since childhood and find it hard to resist. The drive may have to do with a wish to communicate visually, a desire to preserve the beauty in carefully crafted but discarded objects, or perhaps simply from the reaffirming smell of freshly cut wood.

I have lived in many parts of the US and in France, and am currently working in Chapel Hill and Raleigh for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist.

Contact Information

For pricing and other information contact: jjenson7@me.com